Patient interfaces, such as masks for covering the mouth and/or nose, are used for delivering gas to a patient. Such gases, like air, cleaned air (oxygen, or any modification of the latter), are submitted to the patient via the patient interface in a pressurized or unpressurized way. The patient interface is usually provided as a part of a pressure support system that comprises besides the patient interface a pressure generator for generating the flow of breathable gas. Usually, this pressure generator is fluidly connected to the patient interface via one or more conduits acting as gas conducting hoses.
For several chronic disorders and diseases, a long-term attachment of such a patient interface to a patient is necessary or at least advisable.
One non-limiting example for such a disease is obstructive sleep apnea or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA). OSA is usually caused by an obstruction of the upper airway. It is characterized by repetitive pauses in breathing during sleep and is usually associated with a reduction in blood oxygen saturation. These pauses in breathing, called apneas, typically last 20 to 40 seconds. The obstruction of the upper airway is usually caused by a reduced muscle tonus of the body that occurs during sleep. The human airway is composed of walls of soft tissue which can collapse and thereby obstruct breathing during sleep. Tongue tissue moves towards the back of the throat during sleep and thereby blocks the air passages. OSA is therefore commonly accompanied with snoring. Another exemplary disease which is usually treated in a similar manner by means of a patient interface is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Different invasive and non-invasive treatments for OSA and COPD are known. One of the most powerful non-invasive treatments is the usage of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) or Bi-Positive Airway Pressure (BiPAP) in which a patient is connected to a pressure generator via a patient circuit including one or more tubes, wherein the pressure generator blows pressurized gas into the patient interface and into the patient's airway in order to keep it open. Positive air pressure is thus provided to the patient by means of the patient interface that is worn by the patient typically during sleep. The typical design of a PAP apparatus comprises a floor or table mounted therapy device which includes the pressure generator.
Examples of the above-mentioned patient interfaces are:
nasal masks, which fit over the nose and delivery gas to the nasal passages,
oral masks, which fit over the mouth and deliver gas to the mouth,
full-face masks, which fit over both the nose and the mouth and deliver gas to both, and
nasal pillows, which are regarded as patient interfaces as well within the scope of the present invention and which consist of nasal inserts that deliver gas directly to the nasal passages.
Due to the complexity of the pressure support system including such patient interfaces many users often have problems with correctly operating the pressure support system and with correctly attaching the patient interface when using them the first time. Inexperienced users who begin the treatment are confronted with a completely new apparatus to master and a completely new terminology to understand. This can cause confusion and increases the likelihood of non-compliance to the PAP therapy care plan. However, not only inexperienced users have problems to correctly operate a PAP therapy device. Some aspects of using the PAP apparatus are complex even if understood. For example, the correct placement of the patient interface may involve the movement and tightening/untightening of several straps of a headgear that is used for donning the patient interface to the patient's head. These straps have to be attached and tightened in a specific order in order to achieve an adequate seal and comfort that is necessary for an effective PAP therapy. This can be a fiddly operation. On the other hand, each patient has to attach the patient interface in a different manner, meaning e.g. that the straps have to be tightened for every patient differently due to the individual size and shape of the head and face of each patient.
Patients, especially inexperienced patients, thus need advice and instructions how to use the pressure support system and/or the patient interface in a proper way. Currently, these instructions and advices are included in instruction manuals, video tutorials, or the patient directly receives such advices from the physician and/sleep practitioner. This means, however, that the advice on how to use the pressure support system and/or the patient interface correctly is a single instance (a book, a pdf document, a web page, a video etc.) distributed to many users. While the information included in such books, pdf documents, web pages or videos may contain advice on how to adapt for different head shapes and circumstances, it is not truly personalized to a specific user. These general manuals are also not personalized to the current setup or configuration of the PAP apparatus and the patient interface. Typically, current forms of advice manuals do not adapt to current usage, for example if a user performs action A frequently, perhaps more than an average user, then the manual does not adapt to give advice specifically for a user with such a usage profile. Where personal advice is given to a user, e.g. by a physician, it is not provided in-situ.
US 2013/0014012 A1 discloses a system and method for providing an interactive electronic technical manual. This system and method allow the user to interact with the manual (e.g. select what information to be displayed etc.), but do not personalize the information to both a user, for example to the level of using the user's own head dimensions, and the current state/configuration of apparatus.
WO 2011/073814 A1 discloses a pressure support system including a patient interface for delivering a pressurized flow of breathable gas to a patient, the system being configured to provide information to a user position, fit or seal between the subject and the patient interface. Such information may include, for example, a location on the patient interface at which the integrity of the seal is compromised, adjustments that could be made by the subject to enhance the interface between the patient interface and the subject, different types and/or sizes of patient interfaces that could be used to enhance the fit and seal between the system and the subject, and/or other information.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,827,038 B2 discloses a mask fitting system for selecting a mask system for a patient by comparing 3-D scan data of the patient with mask system data including data of a plurality of masks and being stored in a mask system database, so as to generate a best-fit mask system result. The best-fit result may include one or more mask system recommendations for the patient.
Thus, there is still room for improvement.